


Nail

by Jessa



Series: HM Server Prompt Fills [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, Prompt Fill, Tie Kink, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25326913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessa/pseuds/Jessa
Summary: On his way somewhere, Alec is waylaid.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: HM Server Prompt Fills [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850245
Kudos: 49
Collections: Hunter's Moon 500 Prompts





	Nail

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to the July 10th prompt ‘nail’. I needed a distraction.
> 
> Thanks for checking this out. I hope you enjoy it <3

“Raise your chin.”

Alec extends his neck and lifts his chin toward the ceiling of the tailor’s store. His eyes are still on the kohl-lined eyes of the tailor; they haven’t left sight of him since Alec walked through the front door. 

That was just after Alec caught his trousers on a nail protruding from a bench he wandered by; he and Jace had been en route to a wedding and it would have been very poor form indeed to turn up to that in a pair of torn dress pants. 

So he and Jace ducked into here. Only a few doors down from the park. Where a celebrant’s probably already started proceedings; Jace left to attend those ten minutes ago. 

“Have you ever heard the story of the rabbit and the fox?” the tailor asks Alec.

Alec didn't leave though, he stayed right here and now he just keeps on getting upsold to. First, it was new trousers, to replace the ones he ripped. Then it was a shirt to go with the trousers. Then a jacket. And now it’s a tie. He doesn’t even wear ties, he only wears bowties. So how this is happening exactly, he’s a little unsure. Alec just knows he’s very glad it is.

“Huh?” Alec grunts, his chin still raised.

“Don’t move your chin,” the tailor warns. 

“Sorry,” Alec mutters. “W-what did you say?”

The tailor stops what he’s doing at Alec’s neck. “Lower your chin,” he says. “Look at me.”

Alec obeys.

“I said,” the tailor repeats, “Have you ever heard the story of the rabbit and the fox?”

“No,” Alec answers truthfully.

“Some people learn it as a cat and a mouse,” the tailor says. “But I’ve always found that metaphor a tad cliched. And also” - the tailor fusses again at the tie around Alec’s neck - “I find nervous grooms prefer the former story to the latter.”

“Oh, I’m not a groom,” Alec says. “I’m just a guest.”

“Was he your plus-one then?” the tailor asks. 

“Who?”

“Your blond companion,” the tailor says. “The one who left you here alone with me. To learn all about rabbits and foxes.”

“Oh,” Alec says smiling and feeling his face grow warm. “No...no, Jace is just my stepbrother.”

The tailor’s eyes gleam. He returns to the business of adorning Alec’s neck again. “I’m Magnus, by the way,” he says.

“Oh, um…Alexander,” Alec says. “Most people just call me Alec, though.”

“I’m not most people, Alexander,” Magnus says. “The rabbit bounded away, with the fox snapping at his cottontail.”

“Sorry...wh-what?” 

“That’s the first step,” Magnus says.

“Step?”

“Of knotting a tie,” Magnus says. “I’d hate to presume but in my experience bowties, while charming as they are for looks alone, tend to be worn by those of us not versed in the art of knotting. Or at least not yet. Do correct me if I’m wrong though, Alexander.”

“You’re not wrong,” Alec murmurs.

“Didn’t think so,” Magnus murmurs back. “Raise your chin.”


End file.
